The battle to become Denver's next mayor will be a study in contrasts, pitting the wealthy son of a beloved former governor against a man whose dramatic life story is a rags-to-riches tale.

One candidate will be running against city hall, and the other will tout his experience in municipal government.

Former state Sen. Chris Romer is headed to the June 7 runoff, as he topped the field with 30 percent of the vote in results as of 10 p.m. City Councilman Michael Hancock had been slowly building a lead over James Mejia for the second spot, with a nearly 1,200-vote lead as of press time.

Romer is a white, affluent native of Denver whose father was a popular three-term governor and who spent a career in the world of banking.

Extras

Michael Hancock is an African- American who overcame a poor upbringing to become a Denver councilman and get elected twice as City Council president.

The contest could reveal an inner split in the mostly Democratic city and county of Denver, said Floyd Ciruli, a political analyst.

"Essentially you have Michael Hancock with support from the geography north of Sixth Avenue and Romer below Sixth Avenue," Ciruli said.

The race also will be a sprint, as ballots for the all-mail runoff election go out May 20.

Adam Dunstone, Romer's campaign manager, said the strategy against Hancock will be to focus on Romer's business experience and his work with the nation's largest banks, crafting complex bond deals.

Advertisement

Romer most recently was vice president with JPMorgan Chase. Through his career, Romer said, he worked on 500 deals worth more than $10 billion.

"We are going to be highlighting Chris' 25 years in business and working on budgets and really frame Chris as being the right man to lead the city," Dunstone said.

Evan Dreyer, Hancock's campaign manager, said the focus now will be to highlight his candidate's experience on the City Council.

"There will be two things: One is Michael has a depth of knowledge and wealth of experience about how to run the city," Dreyer said. "The second point is their personal stories are so different."

But on many of the major issues facing the city, the candidates have nuanced differences.

Romer and Hancock see mostly eye to eye on education reform. Both have supported the moves being made by Denver Public Schools Superintendent Tom Boasberg and have backed the charter-school movement.

Both argue for a change in police leadership, but Romer has said he would eliminate the position of public safety manager. Both have plans to streamline government and add jobs.

Romer said he will actively court "companies to expand or relocate to Denver and will offer appropriate tax incentives to businesses." He has often said the city has not been accommodating to big-box retailers.

Hancock said he will re-energize the city's office of economic development, launch an initiative to increase access to capital for small businesses and start ups, and create an "aerotropolis" around Denver International Airport.

Which candidate labor organizations or Latinos back is a mystery and could be a factor in the runoff.

"I would say it's going to be close," Ciruli said about the runoff. "But you always say this and someone breaks out."

The mayoral race is nonpartisan, but both Romer and Hancock are Democrats. Romer has had Republican support, getting contributions from former Gov. Bill Owens and campaign assistance from Josh Penry, a former minority leader in the state Senate.

Romer, 51, has money.

The former state senator raised more than $1.4 million through April, more than any other candidate in the race and almost twice as much as Hancock's $791,209. But in the final weeks, Romer had to lend his campaign $131,000, while Hancock's coffers began to fill up.

"(Romer) has the lion's share of the advertising," Ciruli said. "He has the core good voters — the seniors and the older Democrats and Republicans."

The next part of the campaign will likely be about making an emotional connection to Denver, Ciruli said.

"Romer will play up his business background, given the issue is jobs and economy he will stay focused on that," Ciruli said. "He feels this is an austerity campaign where you have to be difficult with budgets and tough. Denver is not a conservative electorate, but it is hungry from political vision. While he is a wonk guy, he will have a hard time convincing people he has vision."

Expect Hancock to play up his personal story over the next month.

"That is his ultimate strength," Ciruli said. "He'll want the liberal votes . . . and to unite the ethnic community and get a very big piece of the downtown crowd. If he can do that, he will be competitive."

Susan Barnes-Gelt, a former city councilwoman and local political observer, said Romer must "show people that he is trustworthy, has vision and isn't fly-by-night.

"He has to show voters he is as likeable and trustworthy as Hancock, but that is going to be tough."

Missy Franklin, Jenny Simpson, Adeline Gray and three other Colorado women could be big players at the 2016 Rio OlympicsWhen people ask Missy Franklin for her thoughts about the Summer Olympics that will begin a year from Wednesday in Rio de Janeiro, she hangs a warning label on her answer.